Homefront support

February 1st, 2011, 11:41 PM

My husband left for basic in June of 2010. His AIT runs till September of 2011. Due to my job I am staying in our home state of Indiana. Since my husband has left I find that most if not all my friend have deserted me as they do not know how to handle my single yet married status. So my life has become very lonely. Im not even sure how to find fellow guard families in the area. Anyone have any ideas? I have another 8 months before he comes home.

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Contact the Unit your husband will be going to when he finishes his training. Most all of them have some form of a FRG (Family Readiness Group). It might not be located in that Armory, but they should have one assigned. The lady that works it is used to wives is your situation. She will have books for you to read, things for the kids to help understand what Daddy is going through, and can also help point you in the direction for certain benefits for soildier families. Sometimes they even have dinner parties or get together for the spouses of the soldiers. From my personal experience I have seen both good and bad FRG's. The good ones do what I mentioned, the bad ones, well ... they can use improvement. Get involved, this effects you too...

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Props for your fortitude! Keep in mind that you can contact the actual unit representative, and being a family member (especially a spouse) basically (diplomatically) demand to be contacted by an FRG representative at the Company, Battalion, Brigade, or State level (depending on your husband's unit and its organization within your state). If your husband's unit cannot provide the direct contact, you always have the right to contact any FRG, such as one on nearby base (in my and my wife's case we had access to both Fort Carson, Colorado (active duty Army) and Buckley AFB, Colorado (for resources and assistance) - to include units of both the ARNG and the USAR that had active FRG's. In our situation (I live in a different state than I am a ARNG Soldier), the unit I deployed with was not my home unit, and the FRG for this unit did not play well with that - so we let the phone start ringing.

And trust, if you get through to the State FRG Coordinator something will happen - What state are you in? This might help some on this forum to provide contacts if they are familiar with, or in, your area.

My live-in boyfriend will be deploying to Afghanistan the end of March for a one-year tour. I am afraid I will also have the feelings of loneliness that you have described. I have three children, but they do not live with me. My oldest is off at college, and my two younger children live with their father. I did not want to uproot them from their school when I left the marriage. As you can imagine, I had already lost lots of "friends" when I left and moved to another town to be with my boyfriend to begin with. I am drawing support from my awesome co-workers, my newly adopted puppy, and my new neighbors. Living in a new city has also caused some loneliness simply because I don't know many folks. However, with the weather fixing to change and warm up soon...I play to get back into my outdoor activities, such as jogging and playing with the puppy at the park to help pass the time. I have several friends who have recently taken up new hobbies, such as jewelry-making or spinning. I don't know if that would help you...it wasn't for me, hence the puppy adoption. She definitely keeps me occupied and also provides lots of companionship. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you will reciprocate for me. Thanks!

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I wont wish you luck as I believe luck is when you leave your fate to someone else. I will wish you patience and courage for the road ahead. I have 2 fur kids of my own and I cant wait for the warmer weather to take them out more. I took up yoga (which I love) and actually picked up cake decorating (and 10lbs! Someone has to eat it! lol) We don't have kids yet and its kinda hard to work on it several thousand miles away. Living fairly far away from an active base there isnt a lot of local support and i haven't been able to find any local families who are also in the guard. I did find ArmyWife chat and met a few women in similar situations but all live in different states. I highly recommend that forum site.

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Never did hear from FRG. Oh well..Its Me, Myself and my fur babies. The Army Wife Forum is helpful and Netflix is AWESOME. (It might be an addiction) 4 more weeks till I see him again. Although im super pissed cause we found out he wont be home till late October and not September like we were told. So that makes it 2 Anniversaries he will miss. I better get a nice dinner and something that sparkles.

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Never did hear from FRG. Oh well..Its Me, Myself and my fur babies. The Army Wife Forum is helpful and Netflix is AWESOME. (It might be an addiction) 4 more weeks till I see him again. Although im super pissed cause we found out he wont be home till late October and not September like we were told. So that makes it 2 Anniversaries he will miss. I better get a nice dinner and something that sparkles.

LOL....you'll get a cheeseburger and good romp in the sack and call it even. Thank you for being a good, honest, and faithfully spouse to your husband. Your soldier boy will be more appreciative of you and thank you for your patience and service as a DW.

LOL....you'll get a cheeseburger and good romp in the sack and call it even. Thank you for being a good, honest, and faithfully spouse to your husband. Your soldier boy will be more appreciative of you and thank you for your patience and service as a DW.

Actually if he knows better (I wonder sometimes) I will get the Kitchenaid mixer i really really want but cant let myself buy.

Joking aside DH is working super hard and I appreciate all he does. Since I cant show him as often as I would likeI send cookies as often as possible. (hence needing the new mixer) His class REALLY likes me cause I send enough to share.

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My husband left for basic in June of 2010. His AIT runs till September of 2011. Due to my job I am staying in our home state of Indiana. Since my husband has left I find that most if not all my friend have deserted me as they do not know how to handle my single yet married status. So my life has become very lonely. Im not even sure how to find fellow guard families in the area. Anyone have any ideas? I have another 8 months before he comes home.

Do you have skype?

This happened to me. My best of friends left me. Forutnately my brother (who is also military) checked in on me every couple of weeks. Church seems to be the best place to find refuge and community. We also got a dog to be my companion. Bebe (my doggie) has saved me. Taking her to the dogpark works wonders... if you like animals and even if you dont have a dog yourself, I would suggest trying to go to the dog park, People there are so overly friendly and willing to talk about anything and everything. These complete strangers were very supportive.